The principle of subsidiarity and the margin of appreciation doctrine in the European Court of Human Rights' post-2011 jurisprudence

This paper analyses the development and the current application of the principle of subsidiarity and the margin of appreciation doctrine in the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) case law. The ECtHR is currently undergoing a reform process to ensure its long-term effectiveness and overcome a working-load crisis. During this reform process, the Member States of the Council of Europe met at three high-Level Conferences in Interlaken, Izmir and Brighton where they called for a strengthening of the principle of subsidiarity and the margin of appreciation doctrine. This paper illustrates based on post-2011 ECtHR land-mark judgments how and to what extent the Court’s jurisprudence has changed after the Interlaken Conference in 2010.